Microphone assembly for use with an off-the-ear sound processor

ABSTRACT

An illustrative cochlear implant system is disclosed herein. The cochlear implant system comprises a microphone assembly including a microphone and a retention device configured to hold the microphone near an entrance to an ear canal of an ear of a recipient. The cochlear implant system further comprises an off-the-ear (OTE) sound processor that includes a housing configured to be worn off the ear of the recipient and further configured to physically attach to the microphone assembly so as to allow the microphone assembly to be worn off the ear when the microphone assembly is not being worn at the ear using the retention device. Corresponding systems and methods are also disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/258,936, filed Jan. 8, 2021, which is a U.S.National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of InternationalApplication No. PCT/US2018/043314, filed Jul. 23, 2018, each of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Cochlear implant systems are used to provide, restore, and/or improvethe sensation of hearing for cochlear implant recipients suffering fromcertain types of hearing loss. To this end, cochlear implant systemstypically include: 1) a cochlear implant implanted within the recipientand configured to apply electrical stimulation to cochlear tissue of therecipient, 2) a headpiece that rests on the head over an implantationsite of the cochlear implant to allow transcutaneous communication withthe cochlear implant, and 3) a sound processor communicatively coupledwith the cochlear implant by way of the headpiece and configured toprovide power and stimulation parameters to direct the cochlear implantto apply the electrical stimulation to the recipient.

In different configurations, sound processors may be configured to beworn in different ways by the recipient. For example, certain soundprocessors are configured to be worn behind the ear of the recipient byattaching to the ear for support by way of an ear hook (“BTE soundprocessors”). Other sound processors are configured to be wornelsewhere, such as at an off-the-ear location on the head (“OTE soundprocessors”) or off the head altogether and, for example, clipped ontoclothing of the recipient or worn in a pocket (“body-worn soundprocessors”).

BTE and body-worn sound processors are both associated with variousdisadvantages for certain recipients and/or situations that are remediedby OTE sound processors. For example, BTE sound processors may feelbulky to certain recipients (e.g., particularly pediatric recipients)and may be burdensome to carry on the ear all day. Moreover, BTE andbody worn sound processors may be considered inconvenient or unsightlyby certain recipients in certain situations (e.g., due to cablingbetween the sound processors and the headpiece, due to difficulty inwaterproofing multiple components during activities such as showering orswimming, etc.). In spite of overcoming these disadvantages, OTE soundprocessors have conventionally had their own disadvantage of beingincompatible with microphones configured to be held in place near anentrance to an ear canal of the recipient's ear.

U.S. Patent Application No. 2014/0233775A1 (“Hartley”) discloses amodular adapter assembly used with a body-worn sound processor fortelecoil and auxiliary audio input device mixing. Hartley discloses aBTE apparatus configured to be communicatively coupled to a telecoil andan auxiliary audio input device (e.g., a microphone worn near the ear),and a multi-position switch configured to selectively enable thetelecoil and/or the auxiliary audio input device when the switch is indifferent positions. The contents of this application are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments and are a partof the specification. The illustrated embodiments are merely examplesand do not limit the scope of the disclosure. Throughout the drawings,identical or similar reference numbers designate identical or similarelements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary cochlear implant system according toprinciples described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic structure of the human cochlea accordingto principles described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary implementation of the cochlear implantsystem of FIG. 1 that employs an off-the-ear (“OTE”) sound processoraccording to principles described herein.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate various aspects of the OTE sound processor ofFIG. 3 according to principles described herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary implementation of the cochlearimplant system of FIG. 1 that employs an OTE sound processor along witha microphone assembly that positions a microphone near the entrance tothe ear canal according to principles described herein.

FIGS. 6A through 6D illustrate various exemplary implementations of themicrophone assembly of FIG. 5 according to principles described herein.

FIGS. 7A through 7D illustrate various additional exemplaryimplementations of the microphone assembly of FIG. 5 according toprinciples described herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary operational configuration of thecochlear implant system of FIG. 5 while being worn by a recipientaccording to principles described herein.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate additional exemplary implementations of themicrophone assembly and OTE sound processor of FIG. 5 according toprinciples described herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates an additional exemplary operational configuration ofthe cochlear implant system of FIG. 5 while being worn by a recipientaccording to principles described herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary method employing microphones near theear with OTE sound processors according to principles described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Cochlear implant systems and methods employing microphones near the earwith off-the-ear (“OTE”) sound processors are described herein. Forinstance, in certain implementations, an exemplary cochlear implantsystem for use by a recipient may include a microphone assembly and anOTE sound processor communicatively coupled with the microphoneassembly. The microphone assembly may include a microphone configured tocapture an audio signal representative of sound presented to therecipient and a retention device configured to hold the microphone inplace near an entrance to an ear canal of an ear of the recipient. Forinstance, the retention device may hold the microphone in place at(e.g., within, near, touching, etc.) a concha of the recipient's earimmediately external to the ear canal. In this way, the microphone maycapture the sound presented to the recipient as the sound is naturallyfunneled toward the ear canal by the pinna of the ear. As such, themicrophone may be positioned so as to capture approximately the samesound as naturally enters the ear canal, thereby utilizing natural soundfunneling and filtering mechanisms that would be provided by the ear inan unassisted hearing scenario.

The OTE sound processor included in this exemplary cochlear implantsystem may include a housing configured to be worn on a head of therecipient at a location that is off the ear of the recipient. That is,rather than being hooked behind the ear as a behind-the-ear (“BTE”)sound processor would be, and rather than being clipped to clothing orotherwise worn on the body of the recipient as a body-worn soundprocessor would be, the OTE sound processor may be worn on the head ofthe recipient away from the ear. For instance, in some examples, the OTEsound processor may be integrated with the headpiece (i.e., may includecircuitry and components capable of implementing the headpiecefunctionality) and may be worn on the head at a conventional location ofthe headpiece (e.g., on the head at or near an implantation site of acochlear implant). The OTE sound processor may further includeelectronic circuitry located within the housing. The electroniccircuitry may be configured to generate stimulation parameters that,when transmitted to a cochlear implant implanted within the recipient,direct the cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulationrepresentative of the captured audio signal to the recipient.

Cochlear implant systems and methods described herein that employmicrophones near the ear with OTE sound processors may provide variousbenefits and advantages for cochlear implant system recipients. Forexample, cochlear implant systems and methods described herein mayprovide all the benefits and advantages of OTE sound processors togetherwith all the benefits and advantages of microphones located at theentrance to the ear canal. While certain conventional cochlear implantsystems and methods have provided the advantages of either OTE soundprocessors or microphones located at the entrance to the ear canal,conventional systems and methods have not provided all the advantagestogether in a single system. These sets of benefits and advantages willnow be described.

OTE sound processors may be advantageous over other types of soundprocessors in several respects. For example, as mentioned above,relatively heavy and/or conspicuous BTE sound processors may beburdensome, unsightly, or otherwise undesirable for certain recipients.Similarly, body-worn sound processors may be associated with a differentset of disadvantages. For example, while body-worn sound processors mayhelp avoid a burdensome weight to be carried all day on the ear, and maybe less conspicuous in certain respects (e.g., the sound processoritself may be hidden in a pocket or clipped inconspicuously to theclothing), body-worn sound processors may require inconvenient andunsightly cabling that extends from the body-worn sound processor to theheadpiece and/or to other hardware worn on the head.

In contrast, head-worn OTE sound processors may avoid thesedisadvantages. For example, because they may be integrated with theheadpiece and worn at an implantation site of the cochlear implant (offthe ear and further back on the head), OTE sound processors may avoidplacing any burden on the ear of the recipient and may instead attach tothe head using the same method as the headpiece (e.g., attachingmagnetically, being held in place by way of a headband, etc.). Theall-in-one, integrated look of a combination OTE soundprocessor/headpiece may also be preferable to some recipients over thetwo-part look of a BTE sound processor connected by way of a cable to aheadpiece. Moreover, such an integrated combination of the soundprocessor and the headpiece may generally be more discrete and easier tocover or hide (e.g., using hair, headwear, etc.) if the recipient shouldwish to do so.

Additionally, by combining a sound processor and a headpiece into anintegrated OTE sound processor, the typical cable that runs between thesound processor and the headpiece may be eliminated, which may providefurther convenience and/or aesthetic appeal for certain recipients ascompared to cochlear implant systems including BTE or body-worn soundprocessors. Waterproofing procedures may also be made possible or moreconvenient when an integrated, all-in-one device is used to performsound processing and headpiece functionality rather than amulti-component system. For example, a waterproof kit (e.g., a small bagor other container configured to fit the integrated OTE sound processor)may be provided to protect the OTE sound processor while exposed towater (e.g., while the recipient is showering, swimming, etc.).

Microphones located near the ear (i.e., microphones located at theentrance to the ear canal) may also be associated with variousadvantages. For example, as mentioned above, one advantage of suchmicrophones or microphone placement is that the pinna of the earperforms natural funneling and filtering of sound that can only be fullytaken advantage of by a microphone placed at the epicenter of thisfunneling and filtering (i.e., at the entrance to the ear canal).Moreover, microphones physically coupled to the ear may be less prone toshift and move around during operation than microphones attached to thehead at other locations (e.g., integrated into OTE sound processors),which may be advantageous for remaining consistent and calibrated (e.g.,for beamforming calibration or the like).

Additionally, other advantages of having a microphone located at theentrance to the ear canal relate to a pervasive assumption in the worldthat people hear with their ears, rather than with microphones locatedat other places on their bodies. For example, telephones, headsets, andother devices commonly used to provide sound for professional,educational, and/or entertainment purposes may be designed to directsound into the ear canal, and may thus be configured to be positioned ator attached to the ear (rather than to a different spot on the head orelsewhere). Accordingly, conventional OTE sound processors that includemicrophones at other places on the head besides at the ear canal maythus be difficult to use with such devices because recipients may berequired to hold the devices up to the microphone rather than up totheir ears. It may be awkward, difficult, and/or embarrassing to hold atelephone earpiece to a microphone on one's head rather than to hold itup to the ear in accordance with its intended use and design.

Various embodiments will now be described in more detail with referenceto the figures. The disclosed systems and methods may provide one ormore of the benefits mentioned above and/or various additional and/oralternative benefits that will be made apparent herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary cochlear implant system 100. As shown,cochlear implant system 100 may include a microphone 102, a soundprocessor 104, a headpiece 106, a cochlear implant 108, and an electrodelead 110 that includes a plurality of electrodes 112 disposed thereon.As shown, electrode lead 110 may be pre-curved so as to properly fitwithin the spiral shape of the cochlea. Additional or alternativecomponents may be included within cochlear implant system 100 as mayserve a particular implementation.

As shown, cochlear implant system 100 may include various componentsconfigured to be located external to a recipient including, but notlimited to, microphone 102, sound processor 104, and headpiece 106.Cochlear implant system 100 may further include various componentsconfigured to be implanted within the recipient including, but notlimited to, cochlear implant 108 and electrode lead 110.

Microphone 102 may be configured to detect audio signals presented tothe recipient. Microphone 102 may be implemented in any suitable manner.For example, in certain implementations, microphone 102 may beimplemented by a T-MIC™ microphone from Advanced Bionics, or anothersuch microphone configured to be held in place at a location near theentrance to the ear canal (i.e., at or within the concha of the ear). Inother implementations, microphone 102 may be implemented by one or moremicrophones disposed within headpiece 106, one or more microphonesdisposed within sound processor 104, one or more beam-formingmicrophones, and/or any other suitable microphone or microphones as mayserve a particular implementation. Additionally, in certain examples,microphone 102 may be implemented by a plurality of microphonesincluding a microphone held in place at the entrance to the ear canaland one or more additional microphones disposed elsewhere withincochlear implant system 100. Examples of microphone configurations andplacements for cochlear implant system 100 and various implementationsthereof will be described in more detail below.

Sound processor 104 may be configured to direct cochlear implant 108 togenerate and apply electrical stimulation (also referred to herein as“stimulation current”) representative of one or more audio signals(e.g., signals generated by microphone 102, input by way of an auxiliaryaudio input port, input by way of a clinician's programming interface(“CPI”) device, etc.) to one or more stimulation sites associated withan auditory pathway such as the auditory nerve of the recipient.Exemplary stimulation sites include, but are not limited to, one or morelocations within the cochlea, the cochlear nucleus, the inferiorcolliculus, and/or any other nuclei in the auditory pathway. To thisend, sound processor 104 may process the one or more audio signals inaccordance with a selected sound processing strategy or program togenerate appropriate stimulation parameters for controlling cochlearimplant 108. Sound processor 104 may be housed within any suitablehousing configured to be worn in various ways. For instance, indifferent types of implementations of cochlear implant system 100, soundprocessor 104 may be configured to be worn behind the ear of therecipient (a BTE sound processor), to be worn on the body (a body-wornsound processor), to be integrated with headpiece 106 and worn on thehead at a location off the ear (an OTE sound processor), and/or to beworn in other locations or in other manners as may serve a particularimplementation.

In some examples, sound processor 104 may wirelessly transmitstimulation parameters (e.g., in the form of data words included in aforward telemetry sequence) and/or power signals to cochlear implant 108by way of a wireless communication link 114 between headpiece 106 andcochlear implant 108 (e.g., a wireless link between a coil disposedwithin headpiece 106 and a coil included within or physically coupled tocochlear implant 108). Communication link 114 may include abi-directional communication link and/or one or more dedicateduni-directional communication links as may serve a particularimplementation.

Headpiece 106 may be communicatively coupled to sound processor 104 andmay include an antenna (e.g., a coil and/or one or more wirelesscommunication components) configured to facilitate selective wirelesscoupling of sound processor 104 to cochlear implant 108. Headpiece 106may additionally or alternatively be used to selectively and wirelesslycouple any other external device to cochlear implant 108. To this end,headpiece 106 may be configured to be affixed to the recipient's headand positioned such that the external antenna housed within headpiece106 is communicatively coupled to a corresponding implantable antenna(which may also be implemented by a coil and/or one or more wirelesscommunication components) included within or otherwise associated withcochlear implant 108. In this manner, stimulation parameters and/orpower signals may be wirelessly transmitted between sound processor 104and cochlear implant 108 via communication link 114.

Cochlear implant 108 may include any type of implantable stimulator thatmay be used in association with the systems and methods describedherein. For example, cochlear implant 108 may be implemented by animplantable cochlear stimulator. In some alternative implementations,cochlear implant 108 may include a brainstem implant and/or any othertype of cochlear implant that may be implanted within a recipient andconfigured to apply stimulation to one or more stimulation sites locatedalong an auditory pathway of a recipient.

In some examples, cochlear implant 108 may be configured to generateelectrical stimulation representative of an audio signal processed bysound processor 104 (e.g., an audio signal captured by microphone 102)in accordance with one or more stimulation parameters transmittedthereto by sound processor 104. Cochlear implant 108 may be furtherconfigured to apply the electrical stimulation to one or morestimulation sites (e.g., one or more intracochlear regions) within therecipient via electrodes 112 disposed along electrode lead 110. Forexample, an array of stimulating electrodes 112 disposed on a distalportion of electrode lead 110 may be configured to be located within andto stimulate the cochlea when the distal portion of electrode lead 110is inserted into the cochlea.

In some examples, cochlear implant 108 may include a plurality ofindependent current sources each associated with a channel defined byone or more of electrodes 112. In this manner, different stimulationcurrent levels may be applied to multiple stimulation sitessimultaneously by way of multiple electrodes 112.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic structure of the human cochlea 200 intowhich electrode lead 110 may be inserted. As shown in FIG. 2, cochlea200 is in the shape of a spiral beginning at a base 202 and ending at anapex 204. Within cochlea 200 resides auditory nerve tissue 206, which isdenoted by Xs in FIG. 2. The auditory nerve tissue 206 is organizedwithin the cochlea 200 in a tonotopic manner. Relatively low frequenciesare encoded at or near the apex 204 of the cochlea 200 (referred to asan “apical region”) while relatively high frequencies are encoded at ornear the base 202 (referred to as a “basal region”). Hence, electricalstimulation applied by way of electrodes disposed within the apicalregion (i.e., “apical electrodes”) may result in the recipientperceiving relatively low frequencies and electrical stimulation appliedby way of electrodes disposed within the basal region (i.e., “basalelectrodes”) may result in the recipient perceiving relatively highfrequencies. The delineation between the apical and basal electrodes ona particular electrode lead may vary depending on the insertion depth ofthe electrode lead, the anatomy of the recipient's cochlea, and/or anyother factor as may serve a particular implementation.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary implementation of cochlear implantsystem 100 that employs an OTE sound processor. This implementation ofcochlear implant system 100 will be referred to herein as cochlearimplant system 300.

Within cochlear implant system 300, microphone 102 described above isimplemented by one or more built-in microphones 302, while both soundprocessor 104 and headpiece 106 described above are implemented by anOTE sound processor 304. Implanted components of cochlear implant system100 described above such as cochlear implant 108 and electrode lead 110will be understood to be included in cochlear implant system 300 so asto perform the same functionality as described above.

In some examples, OTE sound processor 304 may be implemented as anall-in-one active headpiece configured to perform the functionality ofboth sound processor 104 and headpiece 106 described above. For example,OTE sound processor 304 may be included within a housing configured tobe worn at a location off the ear of the recipient (e.g., at animplantation site of cochlear implant 108), and may include, within thehousing, not only electronic circuitry for performing the functionalityof sound processor 104, but also circuitry for performing thefunctionality of headpiece 106. For example, OTE sound processor 304 mayinclude, within the housing, an antenna configured to transcutaneouslytransmit stimulation parameters from the electronic circuitryimplementing sound processor 104 to cochlear implant 108.

To illustrate, FIGS. 4A and 4B show various aspects of OTE soundprocessor 304. As will be described, the exemplary implementation of OTEsound processor 304 illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, as well as otherimplementations in other figures herein, may be integrated with (i.e.,may include) integrated headpiece functionality. However, it will beunderstood that other exemplary implementations of OTE sound processor304 may not include integrated headpiece functionality, but may still beworn on the head at a location off the ear. In such examples, OTE soundprocessor 304 may be closely associated with an external headpiece. Forexample, OTE sound processor 304 may be implemented within a housingthat physically couples with a housing of an external headpiece, or maybe physically and/or electrically coupled with the external headpiece.In the same or other examples, OTE sound processor 304 may employ thesame or a similar mechanism for attaching to the head of the recipient.For example, OTE sound processor 304 and the external headpiece couldboth attach using separate or shared magnets, headbands, or the like.

As depicted by the implementation in FIG. 4A, OTE sound processor 304may include a housing 402 constructed of a suitable material forenclosing components such as electronic circuitry 404, an audiointerface 406, an antenna coil 408, a magnet 410, and/or one or morebuilt-in microphones 302. Each of the components included within OTEsound processor 304 will now be described.

Electronic circuitry 404 may include one or more computing components(e.g., a processor, a memory within which instructions to be performedby the processor may be stored, etc.) and/or other electronic componentsconfigured to perform or direct any of the operations described inrelation to sound processor 104, headpiece 106, or cochlear implant 108.For example, electronic circuitry 404 may be configured to receive anaudio signal (i.e., an analog or digital signal captured by built-inmicrophones 302, received by way of audio interface 406, etc.), dividethe audio signal into a plurality of channels each associated with audiocomponents within different frequency bands, and generate stimulationparameters corresponding with each of the channels. Electronic circuitry404 may then send the stimulation parameters, along with electricalpower configured to power cochlear implant 108, through the recipient'sskin to be received by cochlear implant 108. In certain examples,electronic circuitry 404 may further perform other operations as mayserve a particular implementation. For instance, in certainimplementations, electronic circuitry 404 may perform front-endprocessing operations that will be described in more detail below.

Audio interface 406 may be configured to receive an audio signal (e.g.,a microphone signal, a line-in signal, etc.) from a source external toOTE sound processor 304. To this end, audio interface 406 may includeany electrical or mechanical components as may serve a particularimplementation, and may function in any suitable way. For example, audiointerface 406 may include or be associated with a cable physicallyconnected to an external audio source (e.g., a microphone assembly orother suitable source as will be described in more detail below), or mayimplement a wireless interface (e.g., a Bluetooth interface or the like)configured to receive audio signals wirelessly. In some examples, audiointerface 406 may include a connector allowing a cable to be removablycoupled to OTE sound processor 304. Any audio signal received by way ofaudio interface 406 may be provided to electronic circuitry 404 forprocessing in the ways described above.

Antenna coil 408 may be configured to help perform the functionalitydescribed above in relation to headpiece 106. Specifically, for example,antenna coil 408 may, under direction from electronic circuitry 404, beconfigured to transcutaneously transmit stimulation parameters fromelectronic circuitry 404 to cochlear implant 108. Such outgoingtransmission to cochlear implant 108 may be referred to as forwardtelemetry. Additionally, in some examples, antenna coil 408 (or a secondantenna coil not explicitly shown) may further facilitate backwardtelemetry in which OTE sound processor 304 receives a transcutaneoustransmission sent by cochlear implant 108 in a similar way. In theseexamples, the signal may be provided to and used by electronic circuitry404 to perform sound processing operations.

Magnet 410 may be used to physically couple OTE sound processor 304 tothe head at an implantation site of cochlear implant 108, and to holdOTE sound processor 304 in place at that location. For example, by wayof magnet 410, housing 402 may be configured to be worn on the head ofthe recipient at a location that is off the ear (i.e., that is notdirectly behind the ear and that does not touch the ear or rely on theear to be held in place). It will be understood that, while magnet 410provides one optional way for OTE sound processor 304 to be held inplace on the head, other implementations of sound processor 304 mayemploy other methods of being held in place such as headbands, magnetsbuilt into the cochlear implant, or the like. As such, magnet 410 may bean optional component and housing 402 may be configured to be worn onthe head at the location off the ear in any manner as may serve aparticular implementation.

Built-in microphones 302 may include one or more microphones configuredto capture sound presented to the recipient. In particular, microphones302 may capture sound as the sound waves propagate to the off-the-earlocation at which OTE sound processor 304 is worn. In some examples,audio signals captured by multiple microphones included withinmicrophones 302 may be combined in accordance with a beamformingtechnique to create a directional audio signal. This may be useful, forexample, in facilitating the recipient to understand speech originatingfrom a source in one direction (e.g., directly in front of therecipient) while noise is originating from other directions (e.g., fromother speakers in a crowded room in which the recipient is located).

In certain implementations, openings in housing 402 may allow sound tobe captured more directly by microphones 302. For example, as shown inFIG. 4B, which depicts the exemplary external appearance of OTE soundprocessor 304, one microphone 302 labeled microphone 302-1 may beincluded behind a first opening in housing 402 while another microphone302 labeled microphone 302-2 may be included behind a second opening inhousing 402. As further illustrated in FIG. 4B, various buttons,light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”), and/or other use interface mechanismsfor receiving input or providing output to a user (e.g., the recipient)may further be included on the external case of OTE sound processor 304.

OTE sound processor 304 may provide a recipient any of the benefitsdescribed above in relation to off-the-ear sound processors andall-in-one sound processor/headpiece devices. For example, OTE soundprocessor 304 may be less burdensome and/or conspicuous to wear ascompared to a BTE sound processor, may not require any cables, may beconvenient and easy to waterproof before showering or swimming, and soforth. However, because microphones 302 are integrated with or builtinto OTE sound processor 304, OTE sound processor 304, on its own, maynot be able to provide the benefits described above in relation tomicrophones placed near the entrance to the ear canal (e.g., T-MIC™microphones from Advanced Bionics).

To remedy this, FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary implementation ofcochlear implant system 100 that employs OTE sound processor 304 andbuilt-in microphones 302 along with a microphone assembly that positionsa microphone near the entrance to the ear canal. This implementation ofcochlear implant system 100 will be referred to herein as cochlearimplant system 500.

As shown, along with the same implanted components (e.g., cochlearimplant 108, electrode lead 110, etc.) and the same built-in microphones302 and OTE sound processor 304 that have been discussed, cochlearimplant system 500 further includes a microphone assembly 502communicatively coupled with OTE sound processor 304 by way of acommunication interface 504. Accordingly, cochlear implant system 500depicts one example of a cochlear implant system that employs amicrophone near the ear with an OTE sound processor. Specifically,microphone assembly 502 may include a microphone configured to capturean audio signal representative of sound presented to a recipient usingcochlear implant system 500, and may further include a retention deviceconfigured to hold the microphone in place near an entrance to an earcanal of an ear of the recipient. Additionally, as described above, OTEsound processor 304 may be communicatively coupled with microphoneassembly 502 by way of communication interface 504, and may include ahousing configured to be worn on a head of the recipient at a locationthat is off the ear of the recipient. OTE sound processor 304 may alsoinclude, within the housing, electronic circuitry that is configured togenerate stimulation parameters that, when transmitted to cochlearimplant 108, direct cochlear implant 108 to apply electrical stimulationrepresentative of the captured audio signal to the recipient.

While cochlear implant system 500, as depicted in FIG. 5, illustrates acochlear implant system with at least two microphones (i.e., at leastone microphone included within microphone assembly 502 and one or moremicrophones comprising built-in microphones 302), it will be understoodthat, in certain examples, the microphone or microphones included withinmicrophone assembly 502 may replace built-in microphones 302 such thatbuilt-in microphones 302 may be omitted from the cochlear implantsystem. Such examples will be described in more detail below.

As described above, microphone assembly 502 may include a microphoneconfigured to be held in place at a location near the entrance to theear canal and a retention device (e.g., an ear hook, an earmold, etc.)for holding the microphone in place at the entrance to the ear canal.Additionally, as will be described in more detail below, microphoneassembly 502 may further include other components such as additionalmicrophones, a power supply, a communication interface, circuitry forperforming front-end processing operations, and the like. However, itwill be understood that, regardless of which of these components may beincluded within microphone assembly 502, microphone assembly 502 may bedistinguished from several particular devices that may be used incertain conventional cochlear implant systems.

For example, microphone assembly 502 is not implemented by a microphoneextension accessory configured to plug into a BTE sound processor (e.g.,a T-MIC™ accessory built for a BTE sound processor) because, in thatcase, the BTE sound processor, rather than microphone assembly 502,would implement the retention device (i.e., because the BTE soundprocessor would be configured to attach to the ear and thereby hold themicrophone extension accessory in place). Moreover, while microphoneassembly 502 may be worn at the ear using an ear hook and may includefront-end processing circuitry, microphone assembly 502 is notimplemented by a full BTE sound processor that includes electroniccircuitry for behind-the-ear generation and application of stimulationparameters. To the contrary, the purpose of microphone assembly 502 isto provide an audio signal (e.g., a raw microphone signal or apreprocessed audio signal that has gone through front-end processing aswill be described in more detail below) to OTE sound processor 304,which is worn on the head at the off-the-ear location, to perform thegeneration and application of the stimulation parameters. As yet anotherexample, microphone assembly 502 is not implemented by a behind-the-earaccessory configured to communicatively couple a body-worn soundprocessor to a headpiece and/or to perform switching operations for sucha system, such as the modular adapter assembly mentioned above. To thecontrary, as mentioned above, microphone assembly 502 is configured tocapture and provide an audio signal directly to an OTE sound processorthat is worn on the head at a location off the ear of the recipient(e.g., to OTE sound processor 304).

As mentioned above, cochlear implant system 500 may be configured toperform certain front-end processing operations on audio signalscaptured by any microphones in the system. For example, front-endprocessing operations may involve combining audio signals captured frommultiple microphones (e.g., to mix the signals, to perform beamformingtechniques on the signals to generate a directional audio signal, etc.),performing equalization operations on the signals (e.g., to emphasize ordeemphasize certain frequencies according to a preference of arecipient), or the like. As mentioned above, while front-end processinginvolves “processing” sound in a sense of the word, front-end processingoperations may be clearly distinguished from operations that areperformed only by a “sound processor” such as OTE sound processor 304.Specifically, front-end processing operations do not include, forinstance, dividing audio signals into various channels to generatestimulation parameters for each channel, or transmitting the stimulationparameters to cochlear implant 108 to direct cochlear implant 108 toapply electrical stimulation based on the stimulation parameters.

While these types of sound processing operations are specificallyperformed by a sound processor (e.g., OTE sound processor 304),front-end processing operations may be performed either by a microphoneassembly or a sound processor, and may be used in connection withcertain microphone input and/or certain modes of operation. Forinstance, in one example, the retention device of microphone assembly502 may be implemented by an ear hook and may further include aplurality of additional microphones integrated into the ear hook.Additionally, front-end processing circuitry may also be integrated intothe ear hook and configured to generate a combined audio signal based ona combination of additional audio signals captured by the plurality ofadditional microphones to represent the sound presented to therecipient. In this example, electronic circuitry 404 included within OTEsound processor 304 may be configured to generate the stimulationparameters when operating in a first mode, and may be furtherconfigured, when operating in a second mode, to generate additionalstimulation parameters that, when transmitted to cochlear implant 108,direct cochlear implant 108 to apply electrical stimulationrepresentative of the combined audio signal.

As another example, in implementations where OTE sound processor 304includes a plurality of additional microphones within the housing (e.g.,a plurality of built-in microphones 302), front-end processing circuitryalso included within the housing may be configured to generate acombined audio signal based on a combination of additional audio signalscaptured by the plurality of built-in microphones 302 to represent thesound presented to the recipient. Here again, electronic circuitry 404within OTE sound processor 304 may be configured to generate stimulationparameters associated with the microphone of microphone assembly 502when operating in a first mode, and may be further configured, whenoperating in a second mode, to generate additional stimulationparameters that, when transmitted to the cochlear implant, direct thecochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation representative of thecombined audio signal (i.e., from built-in microphones 302).

To further illustrate microphone assembly 502, FIGS. 6A-6D and 7A-7Dillustrate various exemplary implementations of microphone assembly 502that may be employed in various implementations of cochlear implantsystem 500. In particular, FIGS. 6A-6D illustrate implementations ofmicrophone assembly 502 that employ an ear hook as a retention device,while FIGS. 7A-7D illustrate implementations of microphone assembly 502that employ an earmold as the retention device. It will be understoodthat the implementations of microphone assembly 502 illustrated in FIGS.6A-6D and 7A-7D are exemplary only, and that other implementations ofmicrophone assembly 502 may be employed as may serve a particularimplementation of cochlear implant system 500. For example, otherimplementations of microphone assembly 502 may employ additionalfeatures (e.g., additional microphones, a waterproof or water-resistanthousing, etc.), additional combinations of features, different types ofretention devices, or the like.

A simple numbering scheme is used in FIGS. 6A-6D and 7A-7D todifferentiate like components in certain implementations from others.Specifically, the implementations of microphone assembly 502 in FIGS.6A-6D are respectively designated by reference numbers ending in “−1”through “−4,” while the implementations of microphone assembly 502 inFIGS. 7A-7D are respectively designated by reference numbers ending in“−5” through “−8.” For example, as shown, FIG. 6A depicts animplementation of microphone assembly 502 referred to as microphoneassembly 502-1 and that includes various components ending with “−1,”FIG. 6B depicts an implementation of microphone assembly 502 referred toas microphone assembly 502-2 and that includes various components endingwith “−2,” and so forth until FIG. 7D, which depicts an implementationof microphone assembly 502 referred to as microphone assembly 502-8 andthat includes various components ending with “−8.”

In the implementations of microphone assembly 502 illustrated in FIGS.6A-6D and 7A-7D (i.e., microphone assemblies 502-1 through 502-8),various components may be included, as will now be described.

First, as shown, each implementation of microphone assembly 502 mayinclude a microphone 602 (i.e., microphones 602-1 through 602-8). Eachrespective microphone 602 may be configured to capture an audio signalrepresentative of sound presented to the recipient by, for example,generating the audio signal (e.g., as an electrical signal) based onsound detected by the microphone 602 at the location near the entranceto the ear canal of the ear of the recipient, where the microphone 602is located.

Respective retention devices may be configured to hold the respectivemicrophones 602 in place near the entrance to the ear canal. Forexample, in FIGS. 6A-6D, the retention devices configured to holdrespective microphones 602 in place near the entrance to the ear canalof the ear are implemented by an ear hook, and thus include respectivebooms 604 (i.e., booms 604-1 through 604-4) connected to respective earhooks 606 (i.e., ear hooks 606-1 through 606-4). These retention devicesare configured to be supported by the ear itself, such as by hangingfrom the pinna of the ear. In some examples, booms 604 and ear hooks 606may take different forms than those shown in FIGS. 6A-6D. For example,the retention device may include an ear hook that forms a full loop thatencircles the entire ear, or the like.

In contrast, the examples illustrated in FIGS. 7A-7D show retentiondevices configured to hold the respective microphones 602 in place nearthe entrance to the ear canal of the ear that are implemented byrespective earmolds 702 (i.e., earmolds 702-5 through 702-8). Earmolds702 may be implemented as custom earmolds configured to fit snuglywithin the ear of a particular recipient, or, in other implementations,may be implemented as general use earmolds configured to fit in ears ofa variety of different recipients (e.g., such as by using siliconeearbuds, earbud tips, etc.).

Each implementation of microphone assembly 502 may include acommunication interface 608 (i.e., communication interfaces 608-1through 608-8) for communicating audio signals captured by respectivemicrophones 602. However, as shown, different microphone assemblies 502may have different types of communication interfaces 608 (e.g., wiredcommunication interfaces 608-1, 608-3, 608-5, and 608-7 or wirelesscommunication interfaces 608-2, 608-4, 608-6, and 608-8).

Microphone assemblies 502 that have wireless communication interfaces608 (e.g., microphone assemblies 502-2, 502-4, 502-6, and 502-8) mayrequire respective power supplies 610 (i.e., power supplies 610-2,610-4, 610-6, and 610-8, respectively) for powering respective wirelesstransmitters 612 (i.e., wireless transmitters 612-2, 612-4, 612-6, and612-8, respectively) that implement the wireless communicationinterfaces 608. Specifically, wireless transmitters 612 may beconfigured to wirelessly transmit, based on power supplied by respectivepower supplies 610, the audio signal captured by respective microphones602 to electronic circuitry 404 of OTE sound processor 304 in cochlearimplant system 500. Wireless transmitters 612 may be implemented usingBluetooth technology or any other suitable wireless technology as mayserve a particular implementation.

In contrast, microphone assemblies 502 that have wired communicationinterfaces 608 (e.g., microphone assemblies 502-1, 502-3, 502-5, and502-7) may not require a wireless transmitter 612 or a power supply 610for powering it (as described below, a power supply 610 may still beincluded in some examples for powering other components). For example,cochlear implant system 500 may include a cable configured toelectrically connect the respective microphone 602 of the microphoneassembly 502 to electronic circuitry 404 of OTE sound processor 304, andOTE sound processor 304 may be communicatively coupled with themicrophone assembly 502 by way of a wired interface 608 implemented bythe cable. Certain recipients may prefer a wireless interface for thereasons described above (e.g., since cables running from a BTE device toan OTE device may be inconvenient or unsightly, etc.). However, forcertain recipients and/or in certain contexts, wired interfaces may alsoprovide certain advantages. For instance, wired interfaces may be lessexpensive and more reliable than wireless interfaces in certainexamples, and may not require a power supply 610, thereby potentiallyleading to a smaller, more convenient, and/or lighter weight microphoneassembly 510 (e.g., as illustrated by the relatively small size ofmicrophone assembly 502-1 in comparison to other microphone assemblies502 that employ respective power supplies).

A respective power supply 610 may also be employed in implementations ofmicrophone assembly 502 that include front-end processing circuitry 614(e.g., front-end processing circuitry 614-3, 614-4, 614-7, or 614-8).For example, power supplies 610-3 and 610-7 are included, respectively,within microphone assemblies 502-3 and 502-7 to provide power forfront-end processing circuitry 614-3 and 614-7. In some examples, suchas illustrated by microphone assemblies 502-4 and 502-8, respectivepower supplies 610 may be employed to provide power for both a wirelesstransmitter 612 and front-end processing circuitry 614.

Where front-end processing circuitry 614 is included within animplementation of microphone assembly 502, the circuitry may be employedto perform any of the front-end processing operations described herein.For example, as described above, front-end processing circuitry 614 maybe configured to equalize or otherwise alter and preprocess audiosignals (e.g., raw microphone signals), to mix or otherwise combineindividual audio signals to form combined audio signals, to performbeamforming operations, or the like.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary operational configuration 800 ofcochlear implant system 500 while being worn by a recipient 802.Specifically, as shown, OTE sound processor 304 is shown to be worn onthe head of recipient 802 at a location off the ear. For example, theposition at which OTE sound processor 304 is located may be at alocation of an implantation site of cochlear implant 108 (not explicitlyshown in FIG. 8 but understood to be implanted beneath the skin of thehead at the implantation site).

As further illustrated, microphone assembly 502 may be placed at the earof recipient 802. In the example of operational configuration 800, forinstance, microphone assembly 502 may be implemented using an ear hookdesign so as to hang on the ear of recipient 802 while holdingmicrophone 602 in place at a concha 804 of the ear, near an ear canal806. As used herein, a microphone may be referred to as being located“near an entrance to the ear canal” of a recipient's ear when, asillustrated with microphone 602 in FIG. 8, the microphone is positionedto reside at the concha of the recipient's ear. In some examples, themicrophone may touch the tissue of the concha. In other examples, themicrophone may hover just over the tissue within the space defined bythe concha. In any case, as depicted by the proximity of microphone 602to the entrance of ear canal 806, the location of microphone 602 atconcha 804 may be near enough to ear canal 806 that a pinna 808 of theear naturally funnels sound toward the location of microphone 602 suchthat the microphone detects a similar or identical version of sound aspropagates into ear canal 806. Moreover, the location of microphone 602may be between the ear of recipient 802 and an earpiece of acommunications handset (e.g., a telephone or the like) when the earpieceis positioned at the ear.

While only a right side of the head of recipient 802 is illustrated inFIG. 8, it will be understood that a second cochlear implant system 500similar to the implementation illustrated in FIG. 8 may be employed byrecipient 802 at her left ear. Specifically, for example, if recipient802 suffers from hearing loss in both ears, a second cochlear implantmay be implanted on the other side of her head that may be associatedwith a second sound processor (e.g., a second OTE sound processor), asecond microphone (e.g., a second microphone assembly configured to beworn at the left ear), and so forth.

Alternatively, if recipient 802 has a cochlear implant only on the rightside of her head (e.g., at the implantation site under OTE soundprocessor 304), cochlear implant system 500 may include only the one OTEsound processor 304, but may further include a contralateral microphoneassembly similar to microphone assembly 502. For example, thecontralateral microphone assembly may include a contralateral microphoneconfigured to capture a contralateral audio signal representative of thesound presented to the recipient and a contralateral retention deviceconfigured to hold the contralateral microphone in place near anentrance to an ear canal of an opposite ear of recipient 802 (i.e., anear canal of the left ear).

In this example, OTE sound processor 304 may be further communicativelycoupled with the contralateral microphone assembly so as to furtherreceive the contralateral audio signal along with the audio signalprovided by microphone assembly 502. For example, electronic circuitry404 within OTE sound processor 304 may be configured to generate thestimulation parameters so as to direct the cochlear implant to applyelectrical stimulation that not only represents the captured audiosignal at the right side, but is further representative of thecontralateral audio signal captured at the left side of the recipient.In this way, recipients who suffer from bilateral hearing loss but haveonly a unilateral cochlear implant system may enjoy increased soundquality for sounds originating from any direction (i.e., due todecreased head shadow effects), may hold a communications handset up toeither ear or switch between ears, and/or enjoy other such benefits.

Recipient 802 may enjoy various benefits described herein by wearing OTEsound processor 304 on her head as shown, rather than employing, forexample, a BTE sound processor or body-worn sound processor. Moreover,cochlear implant system 500 allows recipient 802 to enjoy many of thoseadvantages while also adding various benefits, also described herein, ofhaving a microphone placed at the ear canal using microphone assembly502. For example, recipient 802 may use microphone assembly 502 whileusing a telephone and/or at times when she prioritizes authentic soundcapture over other considerations.

However, in certain contexts, recipient 802 may still desire to maximizethe benefits of wearing OTE sound processor 304 on the head by notwearing anything (e.g., even including microphone assembly 502) behindthe ear. For example, if microphone assembly 502 includes a wiredcommunication interface implemented by a cable (not shown in the exampleof FIG. 8), recipient 802 may wish to eliminate the cable when engagingin activities such as sports where the cable could be snagged and thebenefits offered by the placement of microphone 602 at concha 804 areless important. As another example, if recipient 802 plans to engage inan activity where cochlear implant system 500 will get wet (e.g.,showering, swimming, etc.), it may be desirable to consolidate all ofthe external components of cochlear implant system 500 into a singledevice that can be conveniently protected (e.g., by inserting it into awaterproof case or the like). As yet another example, recipient 802 mayenjoy having microphone 602 located near the entrance to ear canal 806during the work day when she often uses a telephone handset to do herjob, but may prefer to not have anything on her ear after the work dayis done.

To this end, it may be desirable for microphone assembly 502 to bemodular and/or flexible to accommodate different wearing scenarios fordifferent situations. In particular, it may be desirable for microphoneassembly 502 to be wearable behind the ear as shown in FIG. 8 in certainsituations, while being integrated with (physically connected to) OTEsound processor 304 in other situations. For instance, in oneimplementation, it may be desirable for electronic circuitry 404 withinOTE sound processor 304 to be configured to operate in either a firstmode (e.g., a mode associated with a microphone located near theentrance to the ear canal) or a second mode (e.g., a mode associatedwith microphones not located near the entrance to the ear canal). Insuch an implementation, microphone assembly 502 may be configured to beworn on the ear of recipient 802 such that the retention device holdsmicrophone 602 in place near the entrance to ear canal 806 of the earwhen electronic circuitry 404 operates in the first mode, and microphoneassembly 502 may be further configured to be worn off the ear of therecipient (e.g., by physically attaching to housing 402 of OTE soundprocessor 304) when electronic circuitry 404 operates in the secondmode.

To illustrate, FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate additional exemplaryimplementations of microphone assembly 502 and OTE sound processor 304that are configured to be modular so as to allow recipient 802 to choosewhether to wear microphone assembly 502 at the ear or to attach it toOTE sound processor 304 to thereby wear microphone assembly 502 on thehead at a location off the ear when desired.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9A, an implementation of OTE soundprocessor 304 labeled OTE sound processor 304-1 may include the one ormore built-in microphones 302 within the housing (e.g., having openingsthrough the housing as shown), and the microphones 302 may be configuredto capture additional audio signals representative of the soundpresented to the recipient (e.g., as the sound propagates to thelocation of OTE sound processor 304). Electronic circuitry 404 may beconfigured to generate the stimulation parameters that direct cochlearimplant 108 to apply the electrical stimulation representative of theaudio signal captured by microphone 602 (i.e., the audio signal capturednear the entrance to the ear canal) when operating in the first mode.Then, when operating in the second mode, electronic circuitry 404 mayfurther be configured to generate stimulation parameters that, whentransmitted to cochlear implant 108, direct cochlear implant 108 toapply electrical stimulation representative of the additional audiosignals captured by microphones 302.

When operating in the second mode, microphone assembly 502 may bephysically attached to OTE sound processor 304-1. For example, as shown,OTE sound processor 304-1 may include a retention cavity 902 configuredto accommodate and hold microphone assembly 502, such as by allowingmicrophone assembly 502 to “snap into” or otherwise be placed withinretention cavity 902. In some examples, rather than retention cavity902, implementations of microphone assembly 502 and/or OTE soundprocessor 304 may employ other methods of allowing for physicalattachment. For instance, a latching mechanism, an adhesive, afriction-based fastener, a hook and loop fastener, or any other suitableattachment mechanism may be used to physically couple and retainmicrophone assembly 502 with OTE sound processor 304-1. It will beunderstood that in examples in which a cable is used to provide a wiredcommunication interface between microphone assembly 500 and OTE soundprocessor 304, the cable may be configured to disconnect from microphoneassembly 502 and OTE sound processor 304 when in the second mode (i.e.,when microphone assembly 502 is physically attached to OTE soundprocessor 304), or a cable well or the like may be included toaccommodate the cable (not explicitly shown).

In the example of FIG. 9A, microphone assembly 502 is shown to be apurely optional accessory. For example, if microphone assembly 502 isnot employed (e.g., is removed from the ear by recipient 802) in theexample of FIG. 9A, OTE sound processor 304-1 may still have everythingrequired to perform normal operations, the only difference being thatmicrophones 302 will be used rather than microphone 602. Even ifmicrophone assembly 502 is not required for operation in this example,however, it may still be convenient for microphone assembly 502 to beplaced and held within retention cavity 902. In this way, recipient 802may avoid losing microphone assembly 502 and may have it convenientlyavailable whenever desired (e.g., if answering the phone or the like).Additionally, in some implementations, OTE sound processor 304-1 may beconfigured to use microphone 602 instead of or in addition to (e.g., inconnection with) microphones 302 even when microphone assembly 502 isphysically attached to OTE sound processor 304 (e.g., to optimize adirectional audio signal by performing beamforming with all threemicrophones, etc.).

In other examples, microphone assembly 502 may not be an optionalaccessory, but, to the contrary, may be a required component necessaryfor normal system operation. This may be the case if microphone assembly502 includes the only microphone or microphones in the cochlear implantsystem, the only front-end processing in the system, or the like. Forexample, in certain implementations, OTE sound processor 304 may notinclude any microphone 302, as mentioned above. In such implementations,microphone assembly 502 may include microphone 602, as well as one ormore additional microphones configured to capture additional audiosignals representative of the sound presented to the recipient. As withthe example of FIG. 9A employing built-in microphones 302, electroniccircuitry 404 may be configured to generate the stimulation parametersthat direct cochlear implant 108 to apply the electrical stimulationrepresentative of the audio signal captured by microphone 106 whenoperating in the first mode, while, when operating in the second mode,generating stimulation parameters that direct the cochlear implant toapply electrical stimulation representative of the additional audiosignals captured by the additional microphones included withinmicrophone assembly 502.

To illustrate, FIG. 9B shows an implementation of microphone assembly502 that includes microphone 602 (configured to capture a first audiosignal representative of sound presented to the recipient), an ear hook(configured to hold microphone 602 in place near an entrance to earcanal 806), a microphone 904-1 and a microphone 904-2 integrated intothe ear hook (configured to capture, respectively, a second audio signaland a third audio signal representative of the sound presented to therecipient), and front-end processing circuitry integrated into the earhook (configured to generate a combined audio signal based on acombination of the second and third audio signals). An implementation ofOTE sound processor 304 labeled OTE sound processor 304-2 in FIG. 9B maybe configured to communicatively couple with the implementation ofmicrophone assembly 502. Like other implementations of OTE soundprocessor 304, OTE sound processor 304-2 may include a housingconfigured to be worn on a head of the recipient at a location that isoff the ear of the recipient, and electronic circuitry included withinthe housing. In the case of OTE sound processor 304-2, the electroniccircuitry may be configured to operate in either a first mode (in whichthe electronic circuitry generates stimulation parameters that, whentransmitted to cochlear implant 108, direct cochlear implant 108 toapply electrical stimulation representative of the first audio signal tothe recipient) or a second mode (in which the electronic circuitrygenerates stimulation parameters that, when transmitted to cochlearimplant 108, direct cochlear implant 108 to apply electrical stimulationrepresentative of the combined audio signal to the recipient).

In the example of FIG. 9B, microphone assembly 502 is configured to beworn on the ear of the recipient such that the retention device holdsmicrophone 602 in place near the entrance to ear canal 806 when theelectronic circuitry operates in the first mode. Microphone assembly 502is further configured to be worn off the ear of the recipient (e.g., byphysically attaching to the housing of OTE sound processor 304-2, suchas by being snapped into retention cavity 902) when the electroniccircuitry operates in the second mode. In either mode, however,microphones included within microphone assembly 502 (i.e., microphone602 and/or microphones 904-1 and 904-2) may be used since OTE soundprocessor 304-2 does not include any built-in microphones.

To illustrate cochlear implant system 500 when operating in the secondmode, FIG. 10 depicts an additional exemplary operational configuration1000 of cochlear implant system 500 being worn by recipient 802. Asshown, the same elements described above in relation to operationalconfiguration 800 are shown in FIG. 10. However, rather than wearingmicrophone assembly 502 on the ear, recipient 802 has physicallyattached microphone assembly 502 to the implementation of OTE soundprocessor 304 being used (i.e., OTE sound processor 304-2 in thisexample). Recipient 802 may thus modularly move microphone assembly 502between her ear and her OTE sound processor as desired (e.g., moving itto the ear to answer a call, moving it back to the OTE sound processorwhen engaging in sports or taking a shower, etc.).

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary cochlear implant method 1100 foremploying a microphone near the ear with an OTE sound processor. One ormore of the operations shown in FIG. 11 may be performed by cochlearimplant system 500 (e.g., by various components included within cochlearimplant system 500) and/or by any implementation thereof. While FIG. 11illustrates exemplary operations according to one embodiment, otherembodiments may omit, add to, reorder, and/or modify any of theoperations shown in FIG. 11.

In operation 1102, a microphone included within a cochlear implantsystem used by a recipient may capture an audio signal representative ofsound presented to the recipient. Operation 1102 may be performed in anyof the ways described herein.

In operation 1104, a retention device included within the cochlearimplant system may hold the microphone in place near an entrance to anear canal of an ear of the recipient. For instance, the retention devicemay hold the microphone in place during the capturing of the audiosignal performed in operation 1102. In some examples, the retentiondevice may be assembled together with the microphone in a microphoneassembly included within the cochlear implant system. Operation 1104 maybe performed in any of the ways described herein.

In operation 1106, electronic circuitry included within the cochlearimplant system may generate stimulation parameters that, whentransmitted to a cochlear implant implanted within the recipient, directthe cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation representative ofthe captured audio signal to the recipient. In some examples, theelectronic circuitry may be included within a housing of an OTE soundprocessor included within the cochlear implant system andcommunicatively coupled with the microphone assembly. The housing of theOTE sound processor may be configured to be worn, during the capturingof the audio signal of operation 1102 and the holding in place of themicrophone near the entrance to the ear canal of operation 1104, on ahead of the recipient at a location that is off the ear of therecipient. Operation 1106 may be performed in any of the ways describedherein.

In the preceding description, various exemplary embodiments have beendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however,be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto,and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing fromthe scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. Forexample, certain features of one embodiment described herein may becombined with or substituted for features of another embodimentdescribed herein. The description and drawings are accordingly to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cochlear implant system comprising: amicrophone assembly including a microphone and a retention deviceconfigured to hold the microphone near an entrance to an ear canal of anear of a recipient; and an off-the-ear (OTE) sound processor including ahousing configured to be worn off the ear of the recipient and furtherconfigured to physically attach to the microphone assembly so as toallow the microphone assembly to be worn off the ear when the microphoneassembly is not being worn at the ear using the retention device.
 2. Thecochlear implant system of claim 1, further comprising electroniccircuitry included within the housing of the OTE sound processor andconfigured to: operate in a first mode when the microphone assembly isbeing worn at the ear using the retention device; and operate in asecond mode when the microphone assembly is physically attached to thehousing so that the microphone assembly is worn off the ear.
 3. Thecochlear implant system of claim 2, further comprising an additionalmicrophone included in one of the microphone assembly or the housing ofthe OTE sound processor; wherein the electronic circuitry is configuredto direct a cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation to therecipient and, when the electronic circuitry is operating in the firstmode, the electrical stimulation is based on an audio signal captured bythe microphone.
 4. The cochlear implant system of claim 2, furthercomprising an additional microphone included in one of the microphoneassembly or the housing of the OTE sound processor; wherein theelectronic circuitry is configured to direct a cochlear implant to applyelectrical stimulation to the recipient and, when the electroniccircuitry is operating in the second mode, the electrical stimulation isbased on an audio signal captured by the additional microphone.
 5. Thecochlear implant system of claim 1, further comprising electroniccircuitry included within the housing of the OTE sound processor andconfigured to generate stimulation parameters that, when transmitted toa cochlear implant implanted within the recipient, direct the cochlearimplant to apply, to the recipient, electrical stimulation based on acaptured audio signal.
 6. The cochlear implant system of claim 5,wherein the microphone captures the captured audio signal and themicrophone assembly further includes: a wireless transmitter configuredto wirelessly transmit the captured audio signal to the electroniccircuitry of the OTE sound processor for use by the electronic circuitryin generating the stimulation parameters; and a power supply forpowering the wireless transmitter.
 7. The cochlear implant system ofclaim 5, wherein: the housing of the OTE sound processor is configuredto be worn off the ear of the recipient at an implantation site of thecochlear implant; and the OTE sound processor further includes, withinthe housing, an antenna configured to transcutaneously transmit thestimulation parameters from the electronic circuitry to the cochlearimplant.
 8. The cochlear implant system of claim 5, wherein themicrophone assembly further includes: a plurality of additionalmicrophones integrated into the retention device; front-end processingcircuitry integrated into the retention device and configured togenerate a combined audio signal based on a combination of the capturedaudio signal and additional audio signals captured the plurality ofadditional microphones; and a communication interface by way of whichthe combined audio signal is provided to the electronic circuitry of theOTE sound processor for use by the electronic circuitry in generatingthe stimulation parameters.
 9. The cochlear implant system of claim 5,wherein the OTE sound processor further includes: a communicationinterface by way of which the captured audio signal is received from themicrophone assembly; a plurality of additional microphones includedwithin the housing of the OTE sound processor and configured to capturea plurality of additional audio signals; and front-end processingcircuitry included within the housing and configured to generate acombined audio signal, based on a combination of the captured audiosignal and the plurality of additional audio signals, for use by theelectronic circuitry in generating the stimulation parameters.
 10. Thecochlear implant system of claim 1, further comprising a contralateralmicrophone assembly including a contralateral microphone and acontralateral retention device configured to hold the contralateralmicrophone near an entrance to an ear canal of an opposite ear of therecipient contralateral to the ear of the recipient; wherein the OTEsound processor is communicatively coupled with the microphone assemblyand the contralateral microphone assembly and further includeselectronic circuitry configured to generate stimulation parameters fordirecting a cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulation based onaudio signals captured by both the microphone and the contralateralmicrophone.
 11. The cochlear implant system of claim 1, wherein theretention device configured to hold the microphone near the entrance tothe ear canal is implemented by an ear hook.
 12. The cochlear implantsystem of claim 1, wherein the retention device configured to hold themicrophone near the entrance to the ear canal is implemented by anearmold.
 13. A cochlear implant system comprising: a microphone assemblyincluding a microphone and an ear hook configured to hold the microphonenear an entrance to an ear canal of an ear of a recipient; anoff-the-ear (OTE) sound processor including a housing configured to beworn off the ear of the recipient and including a retention cavityconfigured to accommodate the ear hook so as to allow the microphoneassembly to be worn off the ear when the microphone assembly is notbeing worn at the ear using the ear hook; a cochlear implant implantedwithin the recipient; and electronic circuitry included within thehousing of the OTE sound processor and configured to: generatestimulation parameters based on an audio signal captured by themicrophone, and transmit the stimulation parameters to the cochlearimplant to direct the cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulationto the recipient based on the stimulation parameters.
 14. The cochlearimplant system of claim 13, wherein the generating and the transmittingof the stimulation parameters performed by the electronic circuitrycomprises: operating in a first mode when the microphone assembly isbeing worn at the ear using the ear hook; and operating in a second modewhen the microphone assembly is worn off the ear by being accommodatedwithin the retention cavity.
 15. The cochlear implant system of claim14, further comprising an additional microphone included in one of themicrophone assembly or the housing of the OTE sound processor; wherein,when the electronic circuitry is operating in the first mode, theelectrical stimulation is based on an audio signal captured by themicrophone.
 16. The cochlear implant system of claim 14, furthercomprising an additional microphone included in one of the microphoneassembly or the housing of the OTE sound processor; wherein, when theelectronic circuitry is operating in the second mode, the electricalstimulation is based on an audio signal captured by the additionalmicrophone.
 17. A cochlear implant system comprising: a microphoneassembly including a microphone and an earmold configured to hold themicrophone near an entrance to an ear canal of an ear of a recipient; anoff-the-ear (OTE) sound processor including a housing configured to beworn off the ear of the recipient and including a retention cavityconfigured to accommodate the earmold so as to allow the microphoneassembly to be worn off the ear when the microphone assembly is notbeing worn at the ear using the earmold; a cochlear implant implantedwithin the recipient; and electronic circuitry included within thehousing of the OTE sound processor and configured to: generatestimulation parameters based on an audio signal captured by themicrophone, and transmit the stimulation parameters to the cochlearimplant to direct the cochlear implant to apply electrical stimulationto the recipient based on the stimulation parameters.
 18. The cochlearimplant system of claim 17, wherein the generating and the transmittingof the stimulation parameters performed by the electronic circuitrycomprises: operating in a first mode when the microphone assembly isbeing worn at the ear using the earmold; and operating in a second modewhen the microphone assembly is worn off the ear by being accommodatedwithin the retention cavity.
 19. The cochlear implant system of claim18, further comprising an additional microphone included in one of themicrophone assembly or the housing of the OTE sound processor; wherein,when the electronic circuitry is operating in the first mode, theelectrical stimulation is based on an audio signal captured by themicrophone.
 20. The cochlear implant system of claim 18, furthercomprising an additional microphone included in one of the microphoneassembly or the housing of the OTE sound processor; wherein, when theelectronic circuitry is operating in the second mode, the electricalstimulation is based on an audio signal captured by the additionalmicrophone.